Such a pallet container of the type in question with a lozenge-shaped carrying frame is described in detail, in the form of a development by Mauser-Werke GmbH, in WO 2014/044372 A1 (with electric discharge) and in WO 2014/044375 A1 (with mounting of the sheet-steel panel). Reference is made to both publications in respect of the pallet design and the contents thereof should be incorporated here in full.
EP 0 673 846 (Prot) discloses a similar pallet container, in the case of which the floor pallet is designed in the form of a steel pallet, with an upper sheet-steel tray and a steel-tube carrying frame arranged therebeneath, and, for the purposes of supporting the upper sheet-metal tray, is provided with a crossmember running transversely directly therebeneath. The two outer ends of the crossmember are designed in the form of integrally formed midfeet, which are welded to the longitudinal tubes of the lower frame and are positioned on the two longitudinal sides of the floor pallet. Between the midfeet, the crossmember is designed in the form of a profiled stiffening plate and, for this purpose, is provided with longitudinal ribs and outer flanges. A narrow planar sheet-metal strip has basically no bending stiffness; the sheet-metal strip obtains this bending stiffness by having longitudinal ribs and angled flange peripheries formed in it. These indentations formed in the strips, however, have to have a certain height/depth of at least 10-30 mm in order to provide a sufficient bending stiffness. However, this then reduces the introduction height for the forks of a forklift truck, because it is only forklift trucks which can handle filled pallet containers weighing approximately 1000 kg or above. Pallet containers are usually always picked up from the front, and therefore the crossmember—as its name implies—always stands transversely in the way of the fork tines which are being introduced. The integrally formed midfeet are provided only with a simple structural shaping with thin side flanks, and therefore they were not sufficiently able to withstand the loading to which they were subjected by fork tines constantly striking against them, and they soon deformed accordingly. Therefore, EP 2 520 504 (Prot) proposed an improved midfoot for a steel pallet, the intention being for this midfoot to eliminate the abovedescribed disadvantages and to have a greater stability against laterally acting fork-tine forces. Production and shaping by deep-drawing a single-piece steel plate, however, are work-intensive and costly. A crossmember is also required. In addition, the rear midfoot on the side located opposite the removal nozzle is only insufficiently supported on two parallel tubes and the thin-walled floor tray and is therefore at risk, in particular when the forklift truck is setting down the pallet container, of tipping over and bending.
DE 101 61 693 A1 (Sch-Pro) discloses another pallet container with fire-protection properties on a steel pallet, in the case of which a fire-protection casing comprising sheet-metal panels is arranged between the inner container and lattice frame, as is additional fire and heat insulation, which also covers the top and bottom of the inner plastic container. In addition, for the discharge of electric charges, the inner plastic container is also enclosed by a lattice-like enclosure made of thin metal wire. This known pallet container with improved fire-protection properties should satisfy the fire-safety regulations in accordance with US standard NFPA 30 for the storage of flammable and combustible liquids, monitored by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and, in the event of fire, should protect the inner bottle against damage, or against the liquid contents escaping, for a duration of at least 20 minutes with assistance from a sprinkler system.